To Serve and Protect
by Bubble Wrapped Kitty
Summary: (sequel to Abyssus Abyssum Invocat) Things in Haven are coming to a head. First, cracks start cropping up all over town. Then, a man whose skin is turning into metal starts a strange new epidemic. With two mysteries on their plates, Audrey and Nathan - and their new relationship - are pushed to their wits' ends trying to keep Haven from falling apart.
1. Prologue

AN: I've not been getting a good response to my new AU (including a pretty snippy review basically telling me to stop writing them) so I thought I'd post this - really little - prologue and see if it gets a better reception. If it does I might give up on the other and start writing this instead.

This is the fourth installment of the Beneath the Sandglass series, set shortly after the events of "Christmas in Haven."

* * *

**Prologue**

Police Chief Garland Wuornos was not having a good day. He had spent most of the morning with the selectmen breathing down his neck about the recent string of unusual cases that had cropped up in town. Add to that the fact that he'd gotten in yet another disagreement with Nathan over pointless nothings, he was hardly in the mood for any more bad news. Which is why he growled to himself when the fax machine in the corner of the room moaned into life.

"Oh what now?" he grumbled, wishing more than ever for a smoke but he'd already been guilted about it by Nathan once today. He pulled out his pack of nicotine gum and stuck a piece in his mouth, chomping down on the meagre substitute. He puffed as he heaved himself out of the chair - he was getting too old for this - and walked over to retrieve the piece of paper the fax machine had spit onto the floor.

He flipped the paper over to find a prisoner release notice from Shawshank. Great, another criminal back on the streets. His eyes panned down to the name and the pain was sudden and crippling. Garland wrapped his arms around his torso as the stabbing pains shot through him. It felt like his insides were being fractured, torn apart at the seams. He struggled to get it back under control but it was too late. The pain reached its highest pitch and then all at once it was over, as quickly as it had started.

Ten miles away, the Haven lighthouse cracked into a thousand pieces and crumbled to the ground.


	2. All Come Tumbling Down

AN: This story won't have consistent updates because I'm just posting as I finish chapters, just fyi.

* * *

**Chapter One**

Nathan Wuornos picked his way carefully over the rubble, trying not to slip on the sea-slicked pieces of concrete and stone that used to be the historic Haven lighthouse. He and Audrey had just gotten to the station when the APB came in that the building had collapsed. The look of panic that had crossed Audrey's face at the message still chilled him.

He crossed the little peninsula of land that had housed the lighthouse to where the ambulance was parked among a row of police cruisers. Audrey was standing at the open rear of the ambulance, talking to Beatrice Mitchell, who was laid out on a stretcher. His partner looked up as he approached and flashed him the smallest of smiles, and despite his best efforts, he couldn't stop the responding grin that twisted at his lips. Even after months as partners, and six weeks into their new relationship, Audrey Parker still made him feel like an awkward teenager with his first crush.

"Hey Bea, how are you doing?" he asked as he reached the girls.

"Just grateful to be alive," the harbour master said. "Fifteen minutes earlier and I'd have still been inside when that thing fell. I'll take a broken arm and some bruises over being crushed."

"I'm glad you're safe," Nathan said genuinely.

"If you're done," the paramedic said pointedly, and Nathan nodded. The two EMTs lifted Bea's stretcher into the back of the ambulance and closed the doors. Turning away from the scene, Nathan and Audrey made their way back to the Bronco.

"It doesn't make sense," Audrey said, shaking her head as she pulled her coat - which had once been his - tighter around her to block out the sea spray. "Bea said the whole thing just shattered out of the blue. What could've caused that?"

"Localised earthquake," Nathan offered. "Old building, decaying foundation. A good shake could've taken it down."

"An earthquake, really?" Audrey asked sceptically, fixing him with a raised eyebrow stare. "Listen, I've been thinking."

"Uh oh," he chimed in with a smirk. He flinched away a second later when Audrey flicked his ear.

"Remember that crack in the highway that first day I arrived in Haven?" she said as if he hadn't interrupted. "How it just appeared out of nowhere?"

"And in the hotel on Carpenter's Knot," Nathan added, immediately picking up on her thought process. "You think their related?"

"In Haven?" she responded and he nodded, conceding the point. "We should look into it, mark down all of these cracks on a map. Maybe there's an epicentre we can pinpoint, narrow down our search area. If we're lucky we can catch this person before someone else gets hurt."

"Right, back to the station then," Nathan said. He opened the passenger door of the Bronco for her and Audrey smiled appreciatively as she climbed in. Walking around to the other side, Nathan jumped into the driver's seat and started the engine. Audrey had the heaters cranked to their highest before he could even get the truck into gear.

The snow from the Christmas Eve storm was still clinging on with a stubbornness that befitted Maine and most of the drifts left poor Audrey soaked up to her knees. What had once been white and crystalline had gotten dirty and hard, losing the beautiful wonder that came with fresh snow. The streets were icy and treacherous at almost any hour of the day and the snowploughs had to keep up a constant stream of salt to stop the main roads from being death traps.

When they reached the station Audrey went directly to the project board that stood in the corner of their little office. She flipped through the pages until she reached the map of Haven, and then grabbed the box of thumbtacks. By the time Nathan had taken off his coat, she'd already stuck three pins in marking the spots they'd talked about.

"Not much to go off," she said pensively. "We should see if there's been any other reports of cracks recently."

"Could ask Vince and Dave," Nathan suggested. "If anyone would know, it'd probably be them."

Audrey nodded and finally set about taking off her winter gear. Nathan watched her, pretending he was looking over the papers on his desk as he did. Beneath her coat she was wearing the blue cashmere jumper he'd given her for Christmas, the same one he'd meant to give her for her birthday before Jess had switched the gifts on him. Her hair was ruffled from wearing her furry laplander and her face was bright pink from the cold winter wind coming off the ocean. Her thick jeans and fur-lined boots made her look like a true Mainer.

She was beautiful.

"Stop staring, Nathan," Audrey said with a smirk as she crossed to her desk. "We're on duty."

"Wasn't doing anything," he said with an indifferent shrug even though he was sure his ears had gone red at being caught. After the town gossip they had caused when Audrey had planted a very steamy first kiss on her partner in the middle of the Winter Ball, they had implemented a strict "no relationship at work" rule. Of course it did nothing to quell the rumours that were already circulating, and even weeks later they still caught people glancing at them and whispering to each other.

Audrey hummed, humouring him, as she booted up her computer. They spent a silent few hours doing research on their computers, looking through archives and at satellite imagery of town in search of more cracks. It was lunchtime before they stopped, and Audrey stood to examine the progress they'd made on the map. There were only three new tacks stuck in the paper; one near the Haven Hunt Club, one on a cliff west of Tuwiuwok, and another in the basement of the sporting goods store.

"There's no pattern here," she grumbled irritably. She tilted her head to the left, as if looking at the spots from a different angle would yield results. Judging by her huff of annoyance, it didn't.

"We'll figure it out, Parker," Nathan said reassuringly. "C'mon, let's take a break, have lunch, and we'll look at it again later, see if we can come up with anything."

A tap on the doorjamb made them both look over and Nathan grimaced. The Chief was leaning on the frame, looking tired and worn. The heavy scent of tobacco clung to him like a cloud and Nathan's anger flared up again, ready to pick up the argument where it had left off that morning.

"Don't start," the Chief said, clearing sensing his frustration. "Just came to remind you about that party tonight. Be there, and look nice, would you?"

"We'll be there," Audrey said before Nathan could open his mouth.

The Chief nodded, and then his eyes flicked passed Audrey to the pinboard. "What you workin' on?" he asked. "Didn't know you had a case."

"We're tracking a series of cracks that have cropped up all over town," Audrey said.

The Chief scowled, fingering his breast pocket. "Waste of time. Sandstone. Shifts all the time. Nothing to it but that."

"We're going to look into it either way," Nathan said, hackles raised. "Just in case."

"Fine, waste your time. Not like I pay you to do real police work or anything," the Chief snapped.

Nathan had opened his mouth to respond when the nerves of his wrist flared into life. He looked down at Audrey's hand wrapped around his wrist, and she used the distraction to her advantage. "We'll be there tonight, Chief," she said. "Thanks for reminding us."

The Chief grumbled something unintelligible and then turned and wandered off into the office. "What was that for?" Nathan asked.

"I figured one fight a day is enough for you two," Audrey said. "Besides, I knew if you two started now, we'd be here all day. I'm hungry."

Nathan smiled, shaking his head. "Alright, let's go then," he agreed. He grabbed his coat from the back of his chair while Audrey pulled her coat and gloves back on, and then they made their way out to the Bronco. A light snow had started, dusting the icy streets in white, and Nathan had to concentrate entirely on driving to prevent them from sliding off the road. It wasn't until they were settled into their usual booth at the Haven diner, lunches ordered, that Audrey finally spoke up again.

"So what party are we supposed to be at tonight?" she asked curiously.

"Marty Richter's retirement party," he reminded her, unsurprised that she had forgotten. She had been buried deep in investigating a Trouble when the Chief had first told them about it, and she had merely mumbled an agreement as she perused the papers spread out across her desk. She tended to be rather single-minded when working a case.

"Right," she said. "So who is this Marty Richter anyway?"

"He's something of a legend in the Haven PD," Nathan explained. "Been working for the department for fifty years. He actually trained the Chief, was his first partner."

"Fifty years?" Audrey gasped out. "Gees, no wonders he's retiring."

"Way I hear it, he doesn't want to," Nathan went on. "Selectmen are forcing him out because of his age. Otherwise he'd probably keep working 'til he died. The guy's married to his job, even more'n the Chief is. No family, just his work. He's good though, I'll give him that. And he's a nice guy. He used to come 'round the house a lot when I was a kid."

"He and the Chief must be close," Audrey said.

Nathan nodded, folding and unfolding a napkin on the tabletop. "Probably the closest thing the Chief has to a real friend," he admitted. "Marty was like family for a long time until after my mom died, then they stopped hanging out as much. Still stops by to chat sometimes though."

"Well it sounds like we definitely have to make it to that party tonight then," Audrey said decisively. The conversation lulled as the waitress brought their food. "You think the Chief will ever retire?"

"If he doesn't kill himself off first," Nathan grumbled.

Audrey rolled her eyes. "Nathan, it was one cigarette," she said. "Quitting isn't easy, especially considering all the stress he's under. You could try to be a little more understanding."

"He said he'd quit," Nathan argued stubbornly. He knew he was overreacting, but something about finding out the Chief had broken his word and gone back to his old habits had set Nathan off. They had snipped at each other for five minutes before Audrey had intervened and dragged him off to the office.

"You two are impossible," Audrey said, shaking her head in exasperation. "I don't get why you can't just try and get along."

"Too much history," Nathan said with a shrug, swirling a piece of pancake through a puddle of maple syrup. "You know how family is." The moment the words had left his mouth, Nathan blanched and glanced up at her apologetically. "Parker, I'm sorry, I didn't-"

"It's fine, Nathan," she said but she couldn't completely hide the pain in her expression. "I know what you meant. And hey, maybe that way I'm lucky I don't have any family. No family feuds."

"Parker..." Nathan trailed off, not knowing what else to say. He reached across the table and took her free hand, squeezing it lightly.

"I thought we weren't doing this at work," Audrey said.

"We're at lunch," Nathan pointed out.

"Still technically on duty," she said. Nathan made to pull his hand away but she threaded her fingers through his and held on. "Well I didn't tell you to stop," she said, a playful grin dancing across her lips.

"Whatever you say, Officer Parker," he replied with a laugh. They would hear about it later, judging by the knowing looks the pair of old ladies at the counter were giving them, but for the moment, Nathan didn't care. He was holding hands with his partner and girlfriend, the woman whose touch he could actually feel, while they enjoyed a quiet lunch of pancakes. There really wasn't much more he could ask for.


End file.
